Carrot

Carrot

Sat Dec 04, 2010 5:58 pm

Did I show you this? The variety is Royal Chantenay. I like these carrots. They are short so they do well in my heavy ground. They will get large if let to grow all season. Even these large ones are sweet and tender.

I'm jealous. The only time I tried carrots all I got after what seemed forever was tiny threads and teeny tops. I gave those to my rabbits and gave up.And the seeds were planted in good potting soil, the mini carrots. Sheesh.

God must think highly of animals - He created them before creating us !

Looks good, I wish I could grow carrots like that. I have had pretty good luck with the Denver Half Long carrots if I plant them in the first week of Sept and let them grow all winter. I worked on my soil in one spot for planting carrots but it doesn't last long I have to work hard to get good carrots.

Speaking of "carrot sticks" . . . . My best carrot for not splitting this year was "Candy Sticks." Seed for that variety is no longer available - at least, I canNOT find it!

Usually, I have serious problems with splitting and forking and growing ugly carrots. I have had these problems with any variety that is in the ground for more than a couple of months. In other words, I can grow baby carrots for summer, fairly well. Royal Chantenay had just as much trouble making it to autumn harvest as most of the others I've tried.

My garden soil can best be described as "gravelly." But, I think that nematodes may have a hand in messing up my carrots, too.

Generally, I've got the garden space and much of that has been deeply cultivated over the years. Still, there's an enormous amount of gravel. Some areas of one garden will look like I'm using a stone mulch after the sprinklers have run on it a time or two. At best, it is pea gravel.

Carrots grow so densely that it wouldn't take all that much work to have better roots. I have a screen that fits over the wheelbarrow and use it for soil mixes going into larger containers . . . when I don't want to spend a lot of $$ on potting soil.

Gotta add the cost of the wear and tear on garden gloves, tho'. Of course, gravel for the driveway can offset that . . .